High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Atlanta (SSN-712), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Atlanta, Georgia. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 1 August 1975 and her keel was laid down on 17 August 1978. She was launched on 16 August 1980 sponsored by Mrs. Sam Nunn, and commissioned on 6 March 1982, with Commander Robin J. White in command. On 29 April 1986 Atlanta ran aground in the Strait of Gibraltar, damaging her sonar gear and puncturing a ballast tank in the bow section. The boat proceeded to Gibraltar under her own power. After a week, the Atlanta returned to Norfolk, VA under its own power, and was repaired in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA.